Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Nursery Rhyme Crafts

First, I have to apologize for not having pictures of all of my crafts. Before I left the library world, I took pictures of the crafts that I had left and only kept a few very precious creations intact. So, I'll just have to be very descriptive!

Dog Craft

This craft is just a piece of brown fun foam cut in the shape of a bone. Then, you add pom-pms for the feet and nose, and felt ears. The original idea was actually a real dog bone to use as the base, but that seemed weird, so I adapted it. Add sticky magnets to the back, and you have a furry friend for your fridge!

Bath Time Craft
No picture-sorry! This simple craft takes a cork, as found at Hobby Lobby-not your wine bottle-a toothpick or dowel and some cardstock. Simply decorate a cardstock triangle that will become your sail, glue it to the stick and put the stick in the cork. Now, theoretically, it will float, but bath times can get crazy, so maybe limit this toy to sink sailing.

Cow Over Moon Craft
I'm actually quite ticked at myself for not having a picture of this, since it's one of my favorite crafts, so instead I have a crudely drawn example from Publisher, so you can see what I mean.

First, you have a paper plate, that your child can color in any way (that would be the giant circle). Then you have a 6 inch or so piece of cardstock. Finally, a cow printed and cut out of cardstock. Again, this can be colored. To assemble, simply glue the cow to one end of the cardstock, and attached the cardstock to the paper plate with a brad. Now your cow can jump over the moon!

NOTE: When using brads, it's a good idea to prep the materials by making a small cut with an exacto knife. For example, for this craft, I cut a small slit in the paper plate and cardstock so it was easier to push through. Otherwise you have frustrated kids and annoyed adults, and no one wants that.

Here's my memory of this craft. I'd finished my storytime and brought my crazy kiddies in for craft and started explaining, this is the moon, here's the cow. Then one of my little guys said, "oh, then we connect them and the cow jumps over the moon!" That kid's a genius! I miss those "ah-ha" moments.

Humpty Dumpty Craft

This was an ambitious craft to prep, but for one or two kids, it will be a breeze. First, trim the bottom off of a styrofoam egg so your Humpety Dumpety sits flat. Then, cut a pipe cleaner into four equal pieces for the limbs and stick into the egg. Glue a ribbon sash around his waist, and add a bow if you're feeling fancy. Then add stickers for the eyes, a brad nose and draw on the mouth. My Humpety Dumpety had pom-pom bead hands and feet. I have no idea where the library got pom pom beads, so you may want to use a different bead, or try to glue pom poms. This little guy sat on my computer speakers and fell often, but never broke!

Mother Goose Village Map
Using Publisher or Word, create a simple map by drawing lines and roads. Then, print out clipart fairy tale characters and glue them to the map. This is a great activity to talk about map making and directions. You could even give some children rules, like the Three Little Pigs want to live by Miss Muffet and the Muffin Man lives on the opposite side of town from Little Bo Peep. This was a simple glue and color project, but sometimes simple is great.

Egg Carton Spider
Again, no picture. (I'll have to start remaking some of these crafts to show you. My hubby would love it I did craft time all over our dining room table!)
First, cut apart and egg carton. The cardboard ones work best, since you can color on them. Then, punch holes in the carton with a whole punch. Cut up black pipe cleaners for legs and let your little one color the egg carton black (or whatever color, spiders come in all shades). Then thread the legs through the holes and bend them so your spider can stand. Now, this will likely not be a spider with eight legs, but this is a great time to teach about artistic freedom and expression!

So, there you go, 6 great crafts to go with a nursery rhyme unit.
Happy reading, or crafting!